We're Settling In...

Hi Everyone,

Today is a beautiful day!  The sun is shining, but the top of the mountains is still a bit misty. The kids hit the water bright and early and had a good paddle.  Coach Zebet took me out in the motorboat (it started on the first try!!!! WOW!) and I got some great pictures.  Susan went out later with him, and she got some great photos, too. 

Coach Bebe, Coach Zabet’s son, instructs the athletes on the water via megaphone.

The kids are in pretty high spirits.  We’ve had some interesting meals, and the kids are learning to be flexible in their eating habits.  As a group, we have discovered that we are not fond of un-smoked sausages and bean dishes.  We have enjoyed the various chicken and potato dishes that we’ve had.  In fact, on chicken nights our hosts have been very impressed by our clean plates. LOL   Like most Europeans, Romanians don’t heavily sweeten their desserts, so there has been a time or two that we weren’t sure if the dish was a dessert or not.

This walkway goes along around a good part of the river. The churned up area is where construction is going on.

Most of today’s meal conversations have revolved around jokes and wise remarks designed to make Blake laugh.  Blake is sore from the ab workout the guys did yesterday and again today, and every time he laughs, he groans and holds his sore abs.  His teammates have enjoyed making him suffer by making their wittiest remarks.

Yesterday, Susan and I walked to the supermarket and bought some clothes detergent that is made for sink washing.  At least, we think that is what the sink icon means.  Since neither of us read Romanian, we’re kind of feeling our way here.  Apparently, there is no washer or dryer on the premises, so we’re each going to have to hand-wash our clothes,  which shouldn’t be so difficult for the Spandex, but it should be interesting for the heavier clothes.  Wet clothes are hung over the railing and on the clothes-wire of each balcony.  I think we’ll have to alternate wash days as the two aforementioned spaces are not big enough to hold all of one girl’s clothes, much less 4 girls and 2 ladies.

Rebecca and Holly catch their breath after a hard sprint.

Tanner and Stanton are going to take a turn eating with the Romanian athletes tonight.  Heather and Holly asked if they could eat with them the other night, and they enjoyed it so much, all of our athletes are going to do it.  Heather said you have to eat fast when you eat with the RO athletes as they eat in two shifts and everyone is anxious to have dinner.

A canoe with training wheels?  Coach Zabet said this canoe, which is actually two C2s linked together, is used to help new canoers get their balance.

Our first international regatta is this Saturday, and our athletes are looking forward to it.  Afterwards, Coach Zabet has told us that he plans to take us on a cruise up the river.  We are really looking forward to seeing more of this beautiful country.

Marcy